The  True  Story  of 
THE  AMERICAN  FLAG 


JOHN   H.   FOW 


ERRATA 

Page  40,  line  I.     Page  104  should  be  page  164. 
Page  53,  line  16.     1776  should  be  1766. 


ace 


FIJI.  8 


FLAG  CARRIED  BY  THE  FIRST  CITY  TROOP  OF  PHILADELPHIA  IN  ESCORTING 

WASHINGTON  ACROSS  THE  JERSEYS  ON  HIS  WAY  TO 

TAKE  COMMAND  AT  CAMBRIDGE 


THE  TRUE  STORY 


OF  THE 


AMERICAN  FLAG 


BY 

JOHN  H.  FOW 


PHILADELPHIA 

WILLIAM  J.  CAMPBELL 

1908 


Copyright,  1908 

BY 
JOHN  H.  FOW 


INTRODUCTION 


I  was  induced  to  make  this  research  by 
the  late  William  H.  Egle,  Librarian  of  the 
State  Library  at  Harrisburg,  whose  know- 
ledge of  the  early  history  of  Pennsylvania 
was  of  valuable  assistance  to  me  in  prepar- 
ing the  data  for  a  history  of  the  country 
along  the  Delaware  river  prior  to  1682  (yet 
unfinished).  Mr.  Egle  agreed  with  me  that 
the  claim  of  Mr.  Canby  that  BETSY  Ross 
designed  and  made  the  first  flag  was  legend- 
ary and  without  that  foundation  which  is  so 
necessary  to  uphold  claims  of  this  character. 
Statements  of  such  a  character,  when  allowed 
to  go  unrefuted,  do  harm  to  the  history  of 
any  people,  inasmuch  as  they  encourage 
others  to  build  "  air  castles  "  and  purchase 
old  portraits  to  be  palmed  off  on  others  as 
our  "  grandfather  "  who  "  fit  "  in  the  Revo- 
lution, or  our  "  grandmother  "  who  carried 
supplies  to  the  troops  at  Valley  Forge. 


20387 


History  is  the  best  incentive  to  make  men 
love  their  country;  it  encourages  that 
patriotism  which  never  falters,  even  at  the 
cannon's  mouth.  The  sight  of  a  flag  or  the 
music  of  a  band  merely  enthuses  as  long  as 
one  is  in  sight  or  the  other  can  be  heard ;  but 
history  and  its  knowledge  are  lasting  and  a 
source  of  pride.  So,  therefore,  let  it  be 
true  in  all  its  details,  no  matter  who  may  fall 
from  the  high  pedestals  upon  which  they 
have  been  placed  by  vain-glorious  descend- 
ants. 

JOHN  H.  Fow. 


THE  AMERICAN  FLAG 


"TT  will  probably  never  be  known  who  de- 
*  signed  our  Union  of  Stars,  the  records 
of  Congress  being  silent  upon  the  subject, 
and  there  being  no  mention  or  suggestion  of 
it  in  any  of  the  voluminous  correspondence 
or  diaries  of  the  time,  public  or  private, 
which  have  been  published." — Rear-Admiral 
Preble. 


So  far  as  regards  the  adoption  of  the  com- 
bination of  stars  and  stripes,  the  same  asser- 
tion can  be  safely  made.  As  to  the  origin 
of  each  this  research,  it  is  hoped,  will  prove 
conclusively,  first,  that  colored  stripes  repre- 
senting a  combination  for  a  common  pur- 
pose were  used  nearly  two  hundred  years 
before  the  Declaration  of  Independence; 
second,  that  stars  were  used  in  the  union  of 

s 


a  flag  in  November,  1775,  on  a  flag  raised 
on  a  Massachusetts  privateer  commanded  by 
Captain  Manley  (see  Fig.  i),  and  that  they 
were  also  used  in  the  design  of  the  book  plate 
of  the  Washington  family  along  with  three 
stripes. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  stripes 
were  made  thirteen  as  a  mere  matter  of  sen- 
timent to  represent  the  colonies  engaged  in 
the  Revolutionary  struggle.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  the  number  thirteen  appeared  in  a  large 
number  of  instances  during  the  Revolution, 
and  was  apparently  used  as  an  object  lesson 
to  remind  the  colonists  that  they  were  united 
in  a  common  cause. 

The  colors  of  the  stripes  have  no  special 
meaning  or  significance,  except  that  which 
anyone  may  apply  who  desires  to  make  use 
of  his  imagination,  or  who  may  become  sen- 
timental upon  the  subject.  Many  have  writ- 
ten and  commented  upon  it;  some  have  said 
that  the  red  stripes  mean  courage,  others 
war,  daring,  determination,  and  so  on,  and 
that  the  white  stripes  mean  purity,  peace, 
justice,  or  equity. 

''  Thy  stars  have  lit  the  welkin  dome, 

And  all  thy  hues  were  born  in  heaven." 
6 


As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  idea  of  stripes  in 
a  flag  to  represent  a  combination  for  a  com- 
mon purpose  originated  in  1582  in  the  Neth- 
erlands, and  symbolized  the  union  of  the 
Dutch  Republic  in  its  struggles  against  the 
power  of  Philip  and  the  persecutions  of 
Alva. 

In  a  paper  read  before  the  New  Jersey 
Historical  Society  by  a  Mr.  Haven  in  Janu- 
ary, 1872,  he  suggested  "  that  the  combina- 
tion of  our  flag,  the  stars  and  stripes,  were 
favored  as  a  compliment  to  Washington,  be- 
cause they  were  upon  the  book  plate  of  the 
General's  family."  He  further  stated  "  that 
the  stars  on  the  book  plate  were  of  Roman 
origin,"  and  in  support  quoted  from  Virgil 
"  Redire  ad  astra,"  meaning  and  inferring 
that  a  return  to  the  stars  meant  a  future 
home  of  peace  and  happiness  for  the  human 
race,  and  that  is  what  this  nation  would 
eventually  become.  Assertions  and  state- 
ments similar  to  the  above  may  be  quoted  by 
the  score,  wherein  reasons  are  given  based 
upon  theory  and  imagination  as  to  the  origin 
of  the  devices  which  compose  our  national 
banner. 

The  claim  that  has  been  made  about  Betsy 
Ross,  who  worked  at  upholstering  and  as  a 

7 


seamstress  during  the  Revolution,  who  is 
said  to  have  lived  in  a  house  either  No.  80 
or  89  Arch  street,  Philadelphia,  now  said  to 
be  No.  239  Arch  street,  as  having  some  time 
in  June,  1776,  made  and  designed  the  first 
American  flag  as  we  now  worship  it,  cannot 
be  corroborated  by  historical  research. 

The  claim  is  one  of  that  legendary  type 
that  the  Rabbins  of  old  handed  down  for 
centuries,  and  which  were  believed  to  be  true, 
until  modern  investigation  proved  their 
falsity,  or  like  the  imagination  of  artists 
who  attempt  to  paint  historical  events  with- 
out consulting  details,  historical,  and  geo- 
graphical. The  two  most  notorious  in  our 
history  are  Leutze's  painting  of  Washington 
crossing  the  Delaware,  and  Benjamin  West's 
painting  of  William  Penn  treating  with  the 
Indians.  As  to  the  first,  I  write  from  au- 
thority, having  been  designated  to  represent 
the  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania  as  one  of  a 
committee  of  three  to  act  in  conjunction 
with  the  Trenton  Battle  Monument  Com- 
mittee to  select  an  historical  subject  for  the 
medallion  to  be  placed  upon  one  of  the  four 
sides  of  a  monument,  erected  at  Trenton,  to 
represent  Pennsylvania's  part  in  that  memo- 
rable event,  we  chose  as  the  subject  "  Wash- 

8 


(  I 


FLAG  CARRIED  IN  THE  REVOLUTION  BY  COUNT  PULASKPS  LEGION 


ington  Crossing  the  Delaware,"  and  the  re- 
sult of  our  labor,  and  investigation  in  con- 
junction with  the  Monument  Committee  can 
be  seen  to-day  on  the  west  side  of  the  monu- 
ment. The  bronze  tablet  placed  there  by 
the  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania  truth- 
fully delineates  that  notable  event.  The  late 
General  Stryker,  of  New  Jersey,  aided  us, 
and  furnished  us  books,  and  documents  to 
obtain  part  of  the  data.  The  tablet  repre- 
sents a  small  rowboat,  with  General  Knox 
sitting  in  the  bow  of  the  boat,  and  Washing- 
ton in  the  stern,  the  man  rowing  the  boat 
was  a  Mr.  Cadwalader.  He  lived  at  Mc- 
Konkey's  Ferry,  on  the  Pennsylvania  side 
of  the  river.  Leutze  in  his  painting  has 
Washington  standing  alongside  of  a  horse 
in  a  large  scow,  such  as  were  used  in  those 
days  on  the  upper  Delaware  to  take  pro- 
duce to  the  Philadelphia  markets.  A  num- 
ber of  others  are  in  the  same  boat,  one  hold- 
ing aloft  a  flag  containing  a  blue  union  with 
thirteen  white  stars — a  flag  that  did  not 
come  into  existence  until  six  months  after 
the  battle  was  fought. 

As  to  West's  picture,  one  need  only  look 
at  it,  and  then  read  the  facts  as  related  in 
any  history  of  Pennsylvania,  and  it  will  be 

9 


found  how  historically  untrue  it  is.  One  in- 
stance alone  would  be  sufficient;  that  is,  in 
the  painting,  the  vessel  in  which  Penn  came 
over  is  anchored  out  in  the  river,  when,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  she  never  came  up  to  Phila- 
delphia. She  was  quarantined  below  Ches- 
ter because  of  the  smallpox,  and  Penn  was 
rowed  up  the  river  from  Chester  in  a  small 
boat,  and  landed  near  the  residence  of  the 
Swensons,  two  Swedes,  who  lived  at  Wicaco, 
and  from  whom  he  bought  the  land  compris- 
ing old  Philadelphia.  Again,  the  elm  tree 
is  in  full  leaf,  yet  the  "  pow-wow  "  that  Penn 
held  with  the  Indians  took  place  in  Novem- 
ber, and  elm  trees  do  not  have  leaves  on  them 
in  this  latitude  in  November.  But  why  di- 
gress from  the  subject  about  which  I  started 
to  write,  merely  to  show  that  artists  and 
those  seeking  for  family  distinction  are  not 
to  be  relied  upon  as  truthful  delineators  of 
history. 

The  Ross  claim  is  based  upon  the  asser- 
tions set  forth  in  a  paper  read  in  1870  by 
Mr.  William  Canby  before  the  members  of 
the  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania.  It 
was  claimed  in  the  paper  or  essay  that  from 
traditions  existing  in  the  Ross  family, 
Betsy  Ross,  the  grandmother  of  Mr.  Can- 


FLAG  CARRIED  IN  THE  REVOLUTION  BY  COUNT  PULASKPS  LEGION 


by  on  his  mother's  side,  was  the  maker  and 
designer  of  the  first  American  flag,  and  that 
she  lived  on  Arch  street.  A  research  shows 
that  a  Betsy  Ross  did  live  on  Arch  street; 
but  the  exact  location  is  doubtful,  and  that 
her  maiden  name  was  Griscom.  She  was 
married  three  times,  first  to  John  Ross,  sec- 
ond to  Ashburn,  and  lastly  to  John  Clay- 
poole. 

It  was  asserted  in  the  paper  read  that  a 
committee  of  Congress,  along  with  General 
Washington,  in  June,  1776,  called  at  her 
house,  and  engaged  her  to  make  a  flag  from 
a  rough  drawing,  which,  not  suiting  her,  was 
at  her  suggestion,  redrawn  by  Washington. 
From  other  traditional  resources  it  was  also 
claimed,  that  Mrs.  Ross  changed  the  stars 
from  six-pointed  to  five-pointed.  The  whole 
claim  is  based  upon  tales  told  from  memory 
by  relatives,  no  other  proofs  have  ever 
been  found,  and  a  careful  and  thorough  re- 
search fails  to  discover  any.  In  1878  a 
pamphlet  was  issued  from  the  printing  office 
of  the  State  printer  at  Harrisburg,  Pennsyl- 
vania, written  by  a  Mr.  Reigart,  based  upon 
the  above  claim,  and  calling  Mrs.  Ross  "  the 
immortal  heroine  that  originated  the  first 
flag  of  the  Union."  The  book  had  an  alleged 


portrait  of  Betsy  Ross  making  the  first  flag; 
but  it  was  afterwards  discovered  that  it  was 
really  the  portrait  of  an  old  Quaker  lady 
who  was  living  in  Lancaster  at  the  time  the 
book  was  written.  The  book  was  so  unreli- 
able that  it  made  the  Ross  claim  appear 
ridiculous  in  the  eyes  of  the  public. 

If  Mrs.  Ross  made  a  flag  in  an  Arch  street 
house,  as  claimed,  it  was  made  after  a  de- 
sign that  had  been  conceived  and  born  some- 
where else,  and  her  contribution  was  no 
more  than  her  labor  in  sewing  on  some  stars, 
the  same  labor  that  is  given  by  any  girl  or 
woman  who  works  in  a  flag  manufactory. 
Even  according  to  the  paper  which  was  read 
before  the  Society  in  1870  it  is  admitted  that 
a  design  made  by  someone  else  was  taken  to 
her,  but  that  she  made  certain  changes  in  it. 
Now,  that  is  all  there  is  in  the  Betsy  Ross 
claim ;  yet  the  growing  youths  of  the  nation 
are  being  misled  and  taught  an  historical 
untruth  when  it  is  asserted  that  Mrs.  Ross 
designed,  originated  and  made  the  first 
American  flag,  and  a  lithograph  has  been 
issued  showing  that  historical  untruth, 
which  has  not  as  good  a  foundation,  in  fact, 
as  the  two  paintings  to  which  I  have  re- 
ferred, because  the  events  sought  to  be  de- 


picted  in  those  two  cases  did  happen.  All 
the  sentiment  exhibited  over  the  Betsy  Ross 
story  is  lost  upon  those  who  have  looked 
the  matter  up,  and  are  conversant  with 
the  history  and  growth  of  our  national 
emblem,  which  I  will  riow  take  up.  Those 
seeking  for  more  elaborate  details  are  re- 
ferred to  Bancroft's  History  of  the  United 
States;  Lossing's  Field  Book  of  the  Revo- 
lution; Philadelphia  Times,  April  6,  1877; 
The  American,  The  Colonial  and  the  Penn- 
sylvania Archives;  Journals  of  Congress, 
Vols.  i  and  2 ;  Preble's  History  of  the  Flag ; 
Cooper's  Naval  History;  Life  of  John  Ad- 
ams; Hamilton  and  Sarmiento's  Histories 
of  our  Flag;  Sparks'  and  Washington  Ir- 
ving's  Lives  of  Washington;  Washington's 
own  letters,  diaries  and  other  writings,  and 
William  Cullen  Bryant's  History  of  the 
United  States,  in  which  pages  420  and  421 
of  the  third  volume  he  devotes  to  a  history 
of  the  flag,  but  nowhere  does  he  mention  the 
Ross  claim.  He  evidently,  like  myself,  could 
not  find  any  authority  for  it,  yet  his  history 
was  published  in  1879 — nine  years  after  the 
Ross  claim  was  made.  There  are  many 
other  authorities,  but  not  one  of  them  gives 
her  the  credit  claimed,  and  all  of  them  except 

'3 


those  written  since  the  claim  was  made,  leav- 
ing out  the  Bryant  history,  do  not  even  men- 
tion her  name. 

A  claim  similar  to  the  one  made  by  Mr. 
Canby  on  behalf  of  Betsy  Ross,  was  made 
by  a  woman  named -Elizabeth  Montgomery, 
daughter  of  Captain  Montgomery,  of  the 
armed  Brig  Nancy.  She  claimed  that  a  flag, 
"stars  and  stripes,'*  was  made  early  in  July, 
1776,  by  a  young  man  on  her  father's  brig 
while  it  was  in  port  at  St.  Thomas ;  see  "Rem- 
iniscences of  Wilmington,  ancient  and  new," 
printed  in  1851,  on  pages  176  to  179;  but 
her  claim  it  proved  to  be  absolutely  false, 
as  a  reference  to  the  American  Archives, 
vol.  vi,  page  1132,  fourth  series,  will  show 
that  the  Brig  Nancy,  Captain  Montgomery, 
was  destroyed  at  Cape  May,  June  29,  1776, 
to  keep  her  from  being  captured  by  the 
British. 

At  the  outbreak  of  our  Revolutionary 
struggle  the  different  colonies  had  flags  of 
their  own  design,  which,  if  grouped  together, 
would  have  reminded  one  of  Joseph's  coat, 
embellished  with  Latin  and  other  mottoes. 
At  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill  the  Americans 
fought  without  a  flag,  although  Botta  in  his 
history  of  the  American  Revolution  says 

14 


Fig.  1 


AN  APPEALTO  HEAVEN 


Fig.  2 


Fig.  3 


LIBERTY  &  UNI  ON 


Fig.  4 


Fig.  5 


that  there  was  one  with  the  words  "An  Ap- 
peal to  Heaven  "  on  one  side,  and  the  Latin 
inscription  "  Qui  transtulit  sustinet "  upon 
the  other  (see  Fig.  2).  In  Lossing's  field 
book  of  the  American  Revolution,  Vol.  I, 
page  541,  he  states  that  an  old  lady  named 
Manning  informed  him  that  the  Americans 
did  have  a  flag  at  the  battle,  of  which  the 
field  was  blue  and  the  union  white,  having  in 
it  the  Red  Cross  of  St.  George  and  a  green 
pine  tree  (see  Fig.  3);  but  this  cannot  be 
considered  an  authority  any  more  than 
TrumbuH's  picture  of  the  Battle  in  the  Ro- 
tunda of  the  capital  at  Washington.  He 
depicts  the  American  flag  carried  in  that 
battle  as  something  which  no  one  ever  saw 
or  even  heard  of,  to  wit:  a  red  flag  with  a 
white  union,  having  in  it  a  green  pine  tree 
(see  Fig.  4). 

Frothingham  in  his  history  of  the  siege 
of  Boston  says  that  there  was  a  flag  over 
Prescott's  redoubt  having  upon  it  the  words 
"  Come  if  you  dare ;"  but  there  is  no  author- 
ity given  for  the  statement.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  it  might  have  been,  for  at  that  period 
flags  were  used  as  ensigns,  with  different 
sentences  upon  them,  such  as  "  Liberty  and 
Union,"  "An  Appeal  to  Heaven,"  "  Liberty 

15 


or  Death,"  "An  Appeal  to  God."  Several 
such  flags  were  captured  by  the  British  and 
mentioned  in  the  English  journals  of  that 
period  (see  Figs.  5,  13,  14  and  15).  Also 
in  Powell's  picture  of  the  battle  of  Lake 
Erie  in  the  national  capital  Perry  is  seen 
in  a  boat  with  a  flag  of  thirteen  stripes  and 
thirteen  stars;  yet  when  the  battle  was 
fought  the  American  flag  consisted  of  fif- 
teen stripes  and  fifteen  stars,  and  had  been 
so  constituted  since  1794,  because  under  an 
act  of  Congress  there  was  to  be  a  stripe  and 
a  star  added  for  the  two  States  admitted 
after  the  thirteen  colonies  became  States,  to 
wit:  Kentucky  and  Vermont.  So  Congress 
on  the  1 3th  day  of  January,  1794,  passed 
an  act  fixing  the  number  of  stripes  and  stars 
at  fifteen,  and  such  was  the  Star-Spangled 
Banner  that  Key  saw  at  Fort  McHenry  in 
the  "  dim  morning's  light "  when  he  wrote 
the  words  of  our  National  Hymn,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  the  war  of  1812  was  fought 
under  a  flag  of  fifteen  stripes  and  fifteen 
stars.  In  1878,  at  a  fair  in  Boston,  the  flag 
of  the  United  States  brig  "  Enterprise,"  that 
fought  the  English  brig  "  Boxer  "  on  Sep- 
tember 15,  1813,  was  exhibited.  It  had  fif- 
teen stripes  and  fifteen  stars.  It  belongs  to 

16 


a  Mr.  Quincy,  of  Portland,  Maine.  It  was 
not  until  the  4th  day  of  April,  1818,  that 
Congress  passed  the  act  fixing  the  number 
of  stripes,  alternating  red  and  white,  at  thir- 
teen, to  represent  the  thirteen  original  colo- 
nies, and  a  blue  union  with  a  white  star  for 
every  State  then  in  the  Federal  Union,  and 
for  those  that  would  be  admitted  an  extra 
star  to  be  added  on  the  4th  day  of  July  after 
the  admission  of  the  State.  Now,  by  a  late 
act,  the  State  is  not  admitted  until  the  4th 
day  of  July  after  the  passage  of  the  act  ad- 
mitting her  to  statehood.  The  act  reads  as 
follows : 

"An  Act  to  establish  the  flag  of  the  Uni- 
ted States.  Sec.  i.  Be  it  enacted,  etc.,  that 
from  and  after  the  fourth  day  of  July  next 
the  flag  of  the  United  States  be  thirteen 
stripes  alternate  red  and  white;  that  the 
union  have  twenty  stars  white  in  a  blue  field. 

"  Sec.  2.  And  be  it  further  enacted  that, 
on  the  admission  of  every  new  State  into  the 
Union,  one  star  be  added  to  the  union  of  the 
flag ;  and  that  such  addition  shall  take  effect 
on  the  fourth  of  July  next  succeeding  such 
admission. 

"  Approved  April  4,  1818." 
17 


The  use  of  stars  by  the  Colonies  on  their 
flags  was  first  suggested  by  a  little  piece  of 
poetry  in  a  newspaper  called  the  "  Massa- 
chusetts Spy,"  published  in  Boston  on  March 
the  loth,  1774.  It  was  as  follows: 

"A  ray  of  bright  glory 

Now  beams  from  afar ; 
The  American  Ensign 
Now  sparkles  a  star." 


This  piece  of  poetry  was  the  cause  of  a 
flag  being  made  in  1775  by  a  patriotic  vessel 
owner  of  Massachusetts  having  thirteen 
white  stars  on  it  in  a  blue  union,  the  body  of 
the  flag  being  white,  with  an  anchor  upon  it 
having  over  the  top  the  word  "  HOPE " 
(see  Fig.  i),  already  mentioned.  It  was 
hoisted  on  the  armed  schooner  Lee,  Captain 
John  Manley  (see  also  Rhode  Island  Colonial 
Records,  Vol.  X,  p.  14.  A  similar  flag  is 
now  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  State. 
It  was  carried  by  a  Rhode  Island  regiment 
during  the  Revolution).  Either  this  or  the 
stars  on  the  Washington  book  plate,  in  the 
absence  of  any  record,  may  be  taken  as  rea- 
sons for  the  adoption  of  the  stars  in  the 
union  in  place  of  the  crosses  of  St.  Andrew 

18 


Fig.  6 


Fig.  7 


Fig.  10 


Fig.  11 


and  St.  George.  I  have  also  referred  to  the 
claim  that  the  combination  of  the  stars  and 
stripes  was  probably  adopted  out  of  love  and 
respect  for  Washington.  If  this  claim  is 
true,  then  we  would  have,  according  to  the 
Ross  claim  the  spectacle  of  Washington 
complimenting  and  honoring  himself,  when, 
as  a  matter  of  fact,  his  whole  life  disproves 
such  conduct  on  his  part.  Now,  let  us  see 
if  this  argument  as  to  the  origin  of  the  com- 
bination is  born  out  by  facts.  We  find  in  a 
book  printed  in  London  in  1704  by  J.  Beau- 
mont that  the  English  East  India  Company 
had  a  flag  of  thirteen  red  and  white  stripes 
alternating  (see  Fig.  6)  the  same  as  ours, 
only  it  had  the  red  cross  of  St.  George  in  a 
white  union.  In  1705  they  reduced  the 
stripes  to  ten ;  but  in  another  work  on  ship- 
building, published  in  1705,  by  Carl  Allard  in 
Amsterdam,  we  find  that  he  fixes  the  num- 
ber of  stripes  at  nine.  Also  in  a  book  pub- 
lished by  Le  Haye  in  1737  we  find  that  the 
number  of  striped  flags  in  existence  in  Eu- 
rope were  as  follows :  Bremen,  nine  stripes, 
red  and  white,  with  a  union  of  four  squares, 
same  colors;  Rotterdam,  eleven  stripes,  red 
and  green ;  North  Holland,  thirteen  stripes, 
red  and  yellow;  East  India  Company,  thir- 

19 


teen  stripes,  red  and  white,  with  a  white 
union  and  St.  George  Cross,  already  men- 
tioned. But  no  matter  as  to  the  number  of 
stripes,  it  is  thus  conclusively  shown  that 
thirteen  red  and  white  stripes  were  in  use 
seventy  years  before  they  were  adopted  by 
the  American  Colonies.  In  October,  1775, 
while  the  English  troops  were  beseiged  in 
Boston  by  the  troops  under  Washington,  it 
became  apparent  that  we  should  have  some 
sort  of  a  flag  to  represent  the  Colonies  in  the 
aggregate,  and  show  thereby  that  they  were 
acting  in  concert;  so  a  committee  was  ap- 
pointed, of  which  Benjamin  Franklin  was 
the  chairman.  It  was  determined  that  the 
flag  should  be  called  the  Grand  Union  Flag, 
and  that  it  should  have  thirteen  red  and 
white  stripes  alternating  to  represent  the 
thirteen  Colonies,  and  the  crosses  of  St. 
George  and  St.  Andrew  in  the  union  to  at- 
test their  loyalty  to  the  Crown  (see  Fig.  7), 
as  at  that  period  national  sovereignty  was 
not  contemplated.  The  quarrel  as  claimed 
was  simply  over  the  right  to  be  represented 
in  the  taxing  body  of  the  British  nation. 
Preble  in  his  history  of  the  flag  says,  on  page 
225,  as  to  the  stripes  being  used  at  the  in- 
stance of  Washington: 

20 


"Without  further  seeking  for  the  origin 
for  the  stripes  upon  our  flag,  it  is  possible  that 
the  stripes  on  his  own  escutcheon  suggested 
them.  They  were  also  on  the  flag  of  the 
Philadelphia  Light-horse  that  escorted  him 
on  the  road  to  Cambridge  from  Philadelphia 
as  far  as  New  York  in  1775  "  (see  Fig.  8). 
This  latter  flag  is  in  Philadelphia,  and  is  the 
property  of  the  Philadelphia  First  City 
Troop.  The  Philadelphia  Sunday  Dispatch 
in  1871  gave  a  very  interesting  history  of  it. 
Messrs.  Lynch  and  Harrison  were  Franklin's 
colleagues  on  the  committee.  In  November, 
1775,  they  met  at  Cambridge  in  Washing- 
ton's headquarters,  and,  after  carefully  con- 
sidering all  the  facts,  adopted  the  Grand 
Union  Flag  above  described.  "  The  Union 
Jack  "  was  called  "  the  king's  colors  "  be- 
cause of  the  crosses  to  which  allusion  has 
been  made.  The  first  flag  that  was  made, 
there  being  no  record  of  the  name  of  the 
maker,  was  hoisted  over  Washington's  head- 
quarters at  Cambridge  on  the  second  day  of 
January,  1776.  In  a  letter  to  Mr.  Reed, 
dated  the  4th  day  of  January,  Washington 
wrote  that  "  the  saluting  of  this  flag  by  can- 
non and  musketry  fire  gave  rise  to  a  ridicu- 
lous idea  on  the  part  of  the  British  in  Boston, 

21 


who,  that  day  having  received  copies  of  the 
king's  speech  to  Parliament,  supposed  that 
the  Colonial  troops  had  also  received  copies, 
and  that  the  salute  was  in  honor  of  the  king, 
and  that  the  rebellious  Colonists  had  submit- 
ted." So,  first,  as  early  as  the  2d  day  of  Jan- 
uary, 1776,  the  flag  we  all  love  except  the 
blue  union  and  white  stars,  was  in  existence. 
Second.  We  have  the  names  of  the  men  who 
designed  it.  Third.  That  it  was  raised  at 
Cambridge.  Fourth.  The  reasons  why  the 
combination  was  adopted;  and  fifth,  that  its 
first  raising  was  an  official  act.  ...  So 
therefore  we  now  have  to  deal  only  with  the 
change  of  the  union  from  the  crosses  to  the 
stars;  and  this  is  best  arrived  at  by  follow- 
ing the  history  of  the  navy  of  that  time : 

The  navy  of  the  Colonies  in  1775  consisted 
of  armed  vessels,  either  maintained  by  pri- 
vate enterprise,  by  the  Councils,  Boards  of 
War,  or  Navy  Boards  of  the  different  colo- 
nies, the  general  Congress  making  no  pro- 
visions for  the  establishment  of  a  colonial 
navy  until  October  13,  1775,  when,  after  a 
general  debate  based  upon  the  report  of  a 
committee,  the  following  resolution  was 
adopted  (see  Journal  of  Congress,  Vol.  I, 
p.  204) : 

22 


"Resolved,  That  a  swift  sailing  vessel  to 
carry  the  carriage  guns  and  a  proportionate 
number  of  swivels,  with  eighty  men,  be  fitted 
with  all  possible  dispatch  for  a  cruise  of 
three  months." 

After  discussion  it  was  further 

"Resolved,  That  another  vessel  be  fitted 
for  the  same  purpose,  and  that  a  marine 
committee,  consisting  of  Messrs.  Dean, 
Langdon  and  Gadsden,  report  their  opinion 
of  a  proper  vessel  and  also  an  estimate  of 
the  expense." 

Two  days  later,  October  20,  1775,  Wash- 
ington wrote  a  letter  suggesting  to  the  Con- 
gress that  a  flag  be  adopted,  so  that  "  the 
vessels  may  know  one  another."  This  idea 
was  a  flag  with  a  white  ground,  a  tree  in  the 
middle,  and  the  sentence:  "An  Appeal  to 
Heaven"  on  it  (see  Fig.  2,  already  men- 
tioned). 

Four  days  afterwards  the  committee  made 
a  report,  but  it  was  not  accepted,  and  the 
above  resolution  was  recommitted.  On  the 
3Oth  of  October  the  committee  made  a  report 

recommending  more  vessels,  and  four  more 

23 


members  were  added  to  the  Committee — 
Mr.  Hopkins,  Mr.  Hewes,  R.  H.  Lee  and 
John  Adams.  At  a  session  of  Congress  on 
the  Qth  of  November,  1775,  a  resolution 
was  passed  authorizing  the  creation  of  two 
battalions  of  marines.  They  were  to  be  com- 
posed only  of  those  acquainted  with  sea- 
manship. This  same  committee  on  the  23d 
of  November  reported  certain  rules  for  the 
government  of  the  navy,  which  were  adopted 
on  the  28th  (  see  Journal  of  Congress  I ,  page 
255).  On  the  2d  of  December  the  commit- 
tee was  authorized  to  prepare  a  commission 
for  the  captains  of  armed  vessels  in  colonial 
service.  On  December  Qth  the  pay  of  naval 
officers,  marines  and  seamen  was  adopted, 
and  on  December  nth  a  committee  was  ap- 
pointed of  one  from  each  colony  as  a  Com- 
mittee of  Ways  and  Means  on  Naval  affairs. 
This  committee  reported  on  the  I3th  that  a 
number  of  vessels  could  be  prepared  for  sea 
by  March,  1776,  and  that  it  would  cost  over 
eight  hundred  thousand  dollars  to  purchase 
them  and  fit  them  out.  This  report  was 
adopted,  and  the  same  committee  was  ordered 
to  go  ahead  and  prepare  the  vessels  for  sea, 
which  was  accordingly  done,  and  the  follow- 
ing vessels  were  made  ready  for  service: 

24 


Alfred,  Dorea,  Columbus,  Lexington,  Fly, 
Hornet,  Wasp,  Cabot,  Randolph,  Franklin, 
Providence,  Dolphin  and  Lynch. 

In  April,  1776,  the  council  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts Colony  adopted  a  device  for  a  flag  for 
privateers,  and  its  own  armed  vessels  a  white 
flag  with  a  green  pine  tree  on  it  (see  Fig.  2)  ; 
but  the  general  Congress  made  no  provision 
whatever  for  a  naval  flag  distinct  from  the 
Grand  Union  Flag  hoisted  in  January  at 
Cambridge,  as  stated.  In  July,  1776,  John 
Jay  complained  in  a  letter  that  Congress  had 
fixed  upon  no  device  "  concerning  continen- 
tal colors,  and  that  captains  of  the  armed 
vessels  had  followed  their  own  fancies."  In 
the  latter  part  of  1775,  M.Turgot,the  French 
Premier  of  Louis  XVI  received  a  report 
from  an  agent  of  his  kept  in  the  Colonies  that 
"  they  have  given  up  the  English  flag,  and 
have  taken  as  their  devices  a  rattlesnake 
with  thirteen  rattles,  or  a  mailed  arm  hold- 
ing thirteen  arrows."  The  reason  given 
for  the  maintenance  of  an  agent  by  the 
French  government  was  to  assure  the  Colo- 
nists that  they  were  esteemed  and  respected 
by  the  French  people.  The  ulterior  purpose, 
however,  of  Vergennes  and  Turgot  was  to 
recover  back  if  they  could  the  Canadian 

25 


provinces  they  had  lost  in  their  war  with  the 
British.  Many  such  flags  were  in  use,  and 
some  were  embellished  with  mottoes  the 
principal  one  being  "  Don't  tread  on  me." 
Such  a  motto  was  upon  the  flag  of  Proctor's 
Westmoreland  County  Battalion  of  Pennsyl- 
vania (see  Fig.  9).  This  flag  was  displayed 
at  the  centennial  of  Westmoreland  County, 
Pennsylvania,  at  Greensburg,  held  in  the  year 
1873.  A  splendid  cut  of  the  above  flag  is 
in  Vol.  XIV  of  the  Archives  of  Pennsylvania. 
Others  had  upon  them  a  rattlesnake  broken 
into  thirteen  pieces  with  the  mottoes  of 
"  Unite  or  die,"  or  "  Join  or  die."  These 
devices  were  first  used  to  stimulate  the  Colo- 
nies into  concerted  action  against  the  French 
and  Indians,  and  afterwards  were  revived  to 
unite  them  in  the  Revolutionary  struggle. 
In  Bradford's  Pennsylvania  Journal  of  De- 
cember 27,  1775,  there  appeared  the  follow- 
ing article,  which  is  very  interesting  and  log- 
ical: 

"  MESSRS.  PRINTERS  :  I  observed  on  one 
of  the  drums  belonging  to  the  marines,  now 
raising,  there  was  painted  a  rattlesnake,  with 
this  modest  motto  under  it,  "  Don't  tread  on 

me !"     As  I  know  it  is  the  custom  to  have 

26 


FLAG  CARRIED  IN  THE  REVOLUTION  BY  PROCTOR'S  WESTMORELAND 
(PENNA.)  BATTALION 


provinces  they  had  lost  in  their  war  with  the 
British.  Many  such  flags  were  in  use,  and 
some  were  embellished  with  mottoes  the 
principal  one  being  "  Don't  tread  on  me." 
Such  a  motto  was  upon  the  flag  of  Proctor's 
Westmoreland  County  Battalion  of  Pennsyl- 
vania (see  Fig.  q).  This  flae  was  disolaved 


ERRATUM 

Fig.  9  should  be  the  Flag  of  the  Westmoreland  Battalion, 
page  26,  and  not  the  Flag  carried  by  the  First  Regiment  of 
the  Pennsylvania  Line,  at  page  40. 


"  MESSRS.  PRINTERS  :  I  observed  on  one 
of  the  drums  belonging  to  the  marines,  now 
raising,  there  was  painted  a  rattlesnake,  with 
this  modest  motto  under  it,  "  Don't  tread  on 

me !"     As  I  know  it  is  the  custom  to  have 

26 


FLAG  CARRIED  IN  THE  REVOLUTION  BY  PROCTOR'S  WESTMORELAND 
(PENNA.)  BATTALION 


some  device  on  the  arms  of  every  country,  I 
supposed  this  might  be  intended  for  the  arms 
of  North  America.  As  I  have  nothing  to 
do  with  public  affairs,  and  as  my  time  is  per- 
fectly my  own,  in  order  to  divert  an  idle 
hour  I  sat  down  to  guess  what  might  have 
been  intended  by  this  uncommon  device.  I 
took  care,  however,  to  consult  on  this  occa- 
sion a  person  acquainted  with  heraldry,  from 
whom  I  learned  that  it  is  a  rule  among  the 
learned  in  that  science  that  the  worthy  pro- 
perties of  an  animal  in  a  crest  shall  be  con- 
sidered, and  that  the  base  one  cannot  be  in- 
tended. He  likewise  informed  me  that  the 
ancients  considered  the  serpent  as  an  emblem 
of  wisdom,  and,  in  a  certain  attitude,  of  end- 
less duration;  both  of  which  circumstances, 
I  suppose,  may  have  been  in  view.  Having 
gained  this  intelligence,  and  recollecting  that 
countries  are  sometimes  represented  by  ani- 
mals peculiar  to  them,  it  occurred  to  me  that 
the  rattlesnake  is  found  in  no  other  quarter 
of  the  globe  than  American,  and  it  may 
therefore  have  been  chosen  on  that  account 
to  represent  her.  But  then  the  worthy  pro- 
perties of  a  snake,  I  judged,  would  be  hard 
to  point  out.  This  rather  raised  than  sup- 
pressed my  curiosity,  and  having  frequently 

27 


seen  the  rattlesnake,  I  ran  over  in  my  mind 
every  property  for  which  she  was  distin- 
guished, not  only  from  other  animals,  but 
from  those  of  the  same  genus  or  class,  en- 
deavoring to  fix  some  meaning  to  each  not 
wholly  inconsistent  with  common  sense.  I 
recollected  that  her  eyes  exceeded  in  bright- 
ness that  of  any  other  animal,  and  that  she 
had  no  eyelids.  She  may  therefore  be  es- 
teemed an  emblem  of  vigilance.  She  never 
begins  an  attack,  nor,  when  once  engaged, 
ever  surrenders.  She  is  therefore  an  em- 
blem of  magnanimity  and  true  courage.  As 
if  anxious  to  prevent  all  pretensions  of  quar- 
reling with  the  weapons  with  which  nature 
favored  her,  she  conceals  them  in  the  roof 
of  her  mouth,  so  that,  to  those  who  are  unac- 
quainted with  her,  she  appears  most  de- 
fenceless ;  and  even  when  those  weapons  are 
shown  and  extended  for  defence,  they  ap- 
pear weak  and  contemptible;  but  their 
wounds,  however  small,  are  decisive  and 
fatal.  Conscious  of  this,  she  never  wounds 
until  she  has  generously  given  notice  even  to 
her  enemy,  and  cautioned  him  against  the 
danger  of  treading  on  her.  Was  I  wrong, 
sirs,  in  thinking  this  a  strong  picture  of  the 
temper  and  conduct  of  America  ? 


The  poison  of  her  teeth  is  the  necessary 
means  of  digesting  her  food,  and,  at  the 
same  time,  is  the  certain  destruction  of  her 
enemies.  This  may  be  understood  to  inti- 
mate that  those  things  which  are  destructive 
to  our  enemies  may  be  to  us  not  only  harm- 
less, but  absolutely  necessary  to  our  exist- 
ence. I  confess  I  was  totally  at  a  loss  what 
to  make  of  the  rattles  until  I  counted  them, 
and  found  them  just  thirteen — exactly  the 
number  of  colonies  united  in  America;  and 
I  recollected,  too,  that  this  was  the  only  part 
of  the  snake  which  increased  in  numbers. 
Perhaps  it  may  have  only  been  my  fancy, 
but  I  conceited  the  painter  had  shown  a  half- 
formed  additional  rattle,  which,  I  suppose, 
may  have  been  intended  to  represent  the 
province  of  Canada.  'Tis  curious  and 
amazing  to  observe  how  distinct  and  inde- 
pendent of  each  other  the  rattles  of  this  an- 
imal are,  and  yet  how  firmly  they  are  united 
together,  so  as  to  be  never  separated  except 
by  breaking  them  to  pieces.  One  of  these 
rattles  singly  is  incapable  of  producing 
sound;  but  the  ringing  of  thirteen  together 
is  sufficient  to  alarm  the  boldest  man  living. 
The  rattlesnake  is  solitary,  and  associates 
with  her  kind  only  when  it  is  necessary  for 

29 


her  preservation.  In  winter  the  warmth  of 
a  number  together  will  preserve  their  lives, 
whilst  singly  they  would  probably  perish. 
The  power  of  fascination  attributed  to  her 
by  a  generous  construction  may  be  under- 
stood to  mean  that  those  who  consider  the 
liberty  and  blessings  which  America  affords, 
and  once  come  over  to  her,  never  afterwards 
leave  her,  but  spend  their  lives  with  her. 
She  strongly  resembles  America  in  this: 
that  she  is  beautiful  in  youth,  and  her  beauty 
increases  with  age;  her  tongue  also  is  blue, 
and  forked  as  lightning,  and  her  abode  is 
among  impenetrable  rocks. 

Having  pleased  myself  with  reflections 
of  this  kind,  I  communicated  my  sentiments 
to  a  neighbor  of  mine,  who  has  a  surprising 
readiness  at  guessing  any  thing  which  re- 
lates to  public  affairs ;  and,  indeed,  I  should 
be  jealous  of  his  reputation  in  that  way,  were 
it  not  that  the  event  constantly  shows  that  he 
has  guessed  wrong.  He  instantly  declared 
it  his  sentiment  that  Congress  meant  to  al- 
lude to  Lord  North's  declaration  in  the 
House  of  Commons  that  he  never  would  re- 
lax his  measures  until  he  had  brought  Amer- 
ica to  his  feet,  and  to  intimate  to  his  Lord- 
ship that,  if  she  was  brought  to  his  feet,  it 

30 


would  be  dangerous  treading  on  her.  But 
I  am  positive  he  has  guessed  wrong;  for  I 
am  sure  Congress  would  not,  at  this  time 
of  day,  condescend  to  take  the  least  notice 
of  his  Lordship  in  that  or  any  other  way.  In 
which  opinion  I  am  determined  to  remain 
your  humble  servant." 

On  the  8th  day  of  February,  1776,  one  of 
the  committee  on  naval  affairs,  Mr.  Gads- 
den,  who  represented  South  Carolina  in  the 
General  Congress,  presented  that  body  with 
a  flag  that  was  made  of  yellow  silk  with  a 
rattlesnake  upon  it  (see  Drayton's  Ameri- 
can Revolution,  Vol.  II,  page  172;  see  Fig. 
10).  No  one  can  tell  what  became  of  this 
flag,  yet  it  was  placed  in  the  hall  of  Congress 
in  a  conspicuous  place  near  the  seat  of  John 
Hancock.  Some  claim  that  it  was  this  flag 
that  Paul  Jones  hoisted  on  his  ship,  and 
others  that  it  was  taken  South  to  Fort  Moul- 
trie.  So  therefore  we  have,  as  late  as  April, 
1776,  a  navy  of  seventeen  vessels,  proper 
committees  of  Congress  to  look  after  them, 
a  commander-in-chief,  to  wit:  Esek  Hop- 
kins, who  was  named  for  that  position  De- 
cember 22,  1775;  but  no  national  flag  had 
been  made  nor  one  even  adopted  in  July, 

31 


1776  (see  Jay's  letter  to  the  committee),  nor 
in  October  (see  Richard's  letter,  dated  Octo- 
ber 15,  1776),  both  written  months  after  the 
date  fixed  upon  in  the  Ross  claim;  but  the 
supposition  is  that,  so  far  as  the  navy  is  con- 
cerned, it  either  flew  the  Grand  Union  or  a 
flag  similar  to  the  Gadsden  device,  and  this 
is  borne  out  by  the  records.  As  to  who  was 
the  first  naval  officer  to  raise  the  first  Amer- 
ican flag  to  the  peak  of  his  vessel  and  capture 
the  first  prize,  we  only  have  to  quote  ex- 
President  John  Adams,  who  wrote  from 
Quincy  in  1813  to  Vice-president  Gerry  as 
follows : 

"  Philadelphia  is  now  boasting  that  Paul 
Jones  has  asserted  in  his  journal  that  his 
hand  first  hoisted  the  first  American  flag, 
and  Captain  Barry  has  asserted  that  the  first 
British  flag  was  struck  to  him.  Now,  I  as- 
sert that  the  first  American  flag  was  hoisted 
by  Captain  John  Manley  and  the  first  British 
flag  was  struck  to  him  on  the  2Qth  day  of 
November,  1775." 

As  Captain  Barry  did  not  go  to  sea  in  the 
Lexington  until  February,  1776,  therefore 
this  claim  of  President  John  Adams  is  un- 
deniably true  so  far  as  regards  Barry,  for 

32 


the  records  show  that  Manley,  in  a  schooner 
called  the  Lee,  captured  the  British  vessel 
Nancy,  bound  to  Boston,  loaded  with  muni- 
tions of  war  for  the  use  of  the  British  troops 
beseiged  there,  and  among  the  articles  cap- 
tured was  a  mortar,  which  afterwards  was 
used  on  Dorchester  Heights  by  Washing- 
ton's troops  in  shelling  the  British  in  Boston. 
This  same  captain  on  the  8th  of  December, 
1775,  captured  two  more  British  transports 
loaded  with  provisions. 

The  Paul  Jones  claim  rests  upon  not  that 
his  was  the  first  vessel  to  hoist  an  American 
flag,  but  that  the  Alfred  was  the  first  com- 
missioned United  States  war  vessel  to  hoist 
the  Grand  Union  Flag;  but  there  is  no  re- 
cord anywhere  of  the  date,  and  as  no  naval 
commission  was  issued  to  Jones  until  De- 
cember 7,  1775,  the  Manley  claim  made  by 
Adams  stands  alone  as  regards  the  first 
American  flag  distinct  from  the  English 
standard  as  changed  by  the  Colonists ;  and  it 
is  also  corroborated  by  a  letter  sent  by  Gen- 
eral Howe  on  December  13,  1775,  while  he 
was  beseiged  in  Boston  to  Lord  Davenport, 
complaining  about  Manley's  capture  of  the 
Nancy  with  four  thousand  stands  of  arms. 
Now,  I  claim  that  Adams  could  not  have 

33 


meant  the  Grand  Union  Flag,  as  it  was  not 
agreed  upon  until  December,  1775,  but  the 
one  I  have  described  as  having  a  blue  union 
with  white  stars,  a  white  ground  with  an 
anchor  and  the  word  "  Hope "  over  the 
anchor  (see  Fig.  i).  The  Lee  was  an 
armed  privateer.  In  a  letter  to  Robert  Mor- 
ris, October,  1783,  Jones,  in  speaking  of  the 
flag,  made  the  claim  that  "  the  flag  of  Amer- 
ica "  was  displayed  on  a  war  vessel  for  the 
first  time  by  him,  he  then  being  a  lieutenant 
on  the  Alfred;  but  there  is  no  record  as  to 
whether  it  was  a  Continental  or  Grand  Union 
Flag,  or  some  other  device ;  yet  there  are  rea- 
sons to  suppose  it  was  the  Grand  Union  Flag 
— first,  because  the  Alfred  was  in  the  port 
of  Philadelphia,  and  we  find  from  the  record 
(American  Archives,  Vol.  IV,  page  179) 
that  the  day  signal  of  the  fleets  on  February 
17,  1776,  at  the  Capes  of  the  Delaware  were 
to  be  made  by  using  the  "  Grand  Union  Flag 
at  the  mizzen  peak,"  which  was  to  be  lowered 
or  hoisted  according  to  the  information  in- 
tended to  be  given  under  the  code  of  signals 
furnished. 

In  the  Ladies'  Magazine,  published  in  Lon- 
don, May  13,  1776,  the  writer  states  that  the 
colors  of  the  American  navy  were  "  first  a 

34 


Fig.  12 


LIBERTY   TREE 


t 

APPEAL-**!! 


AN  APPEAL"**1™   COD 


Fig.  13 


Tig.  14 


AN  APPEAL  TO  GOD 


DON!  TREAD  ON    Ml 


Fig.  15 


flag  with  a  union  and  thirteen  stripes,  and 
the  commander's  flag  a  yellow  flag  with  a 
rattlesnake  upon  it." 

In  the  Pennsylvania  Evening  Post  of  June 
20,  1776,  was  published  a  letter  stating  that 
the  British  cruiser  Roebuck  had  captured 
two  prizes  in  Delaware  Bay  "  which  she  de- 
coyed by  hoisting  a  Continental  Union  Flag." 
There  is  no  doubt  that  from  July  4,  1776, 
until  June  14,  1777,  we  had  as  a  national  en- 
sign simply  a  flag  with  thirteen  stripes,  as 
we  had  declared  ourselves  free  from  the  gov- 
ernment represented  by  the  crosses  of  St. 
George  and  St.  Andrew  which  we  had  hith- 
erto on  our  flag,  but  having  upon  it  a  snake 
with  the  motto  already  so  often  mentioned 
of  "  Don't  tread  on  me,"  and  this  design  was 
used,  but  without  any  official  action  being 
taken  thereon  by  the  General  Congress  (see 
Fig.  1 1 )  ;  yet  from  May,  1776,  or  June,  1776, 
the  date  fixed  upon  in  the  Ross  claim,  until 
May,  1777,  the  American  troops  fought  the 
following  battles:  June  28,  1776,  Fort 
Moultrie.  The  flag  in  that  engagement  was 
a  blue  flag  with  a  crescent  and  the  word 
"  Liberty  "  upon  it  (see  Fig  12).  Battle  of 
Long  Island,  August  2,  1776,  the  British 
captured  a  flag  of  red  damask  with  the  word 

35 


"Liberty"  on  it;  September  i6th,  Harlem 
Plains,  no  flag  being  mentioned;  October 
28th,  the  battle  of  White  Plains,  the  flag  car- 
ried by  the  Americans  was  a  white  flag  with 
two  cross-swords  on  it  and  the  words  "  Lib- 
erty or  death;"  November  i6th,  surrender 
of  Fort  Washington,  no  mention  of  a  flag; 
December  26th,  battle  of  Trenton,  the  flags 
in  this  battle  were  State  flags;  all  other 
claims  are  the  imagination  of  artists  who 
apparently  knew  nothing  of  the  history  of 
the  flag;  January  3d,  Princeton,  the  same  as 
at  Trenton ;  January  26th,  Tryon's  attack  on 
Danbury;  and  yet  in  all  these  engagements 
that  took  place  after  we  had  declared  our- 
selves a  free  and  independent  people  there  is 
no  record  in  existence,  public  or  private,  that 
the  flag  claimed  to  have  been  designed  by 
Mrs.  Ross  in  May  or  June,  1776,  was  car- 
ried. The  first  time  the  Stars  and  Stripes 
was  carried  by  American  troops  of  which  we 
have  any  positive  record  was  at  the  battle  of 
the  Brandy  wine,  in  September,  1777. 

It  soon  became  apparent  in  1776  that  we 
were  fighting  for  more  than  mere  Parlia- 
mentary representation,  and  when  the  cul- 
mination was  reached  by  the  adoption  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  on  the  4th  day 

36 


of  July,  1 776,  the  conclusion  was  also  reached 
that  we  could  not  consistently  fight  under  a 
standard  containing  in  its  union  the  crosses 
of  St.  Andrew  and  St.  George,  devices  that 
belonged  to  the  enemy,  but  which  we  had 
used,  to  express  our  loyalty  to  the  king  up 
to  that  time  while  fighting  for  a  principle. 
The  want  of  a  change  in  our  emblem  as  orig- 
inally adopted  can  be  best  appreciated  by  the 
contents  of  a  letter  dated  October  15,  1776, 
sent  by  William  Richards  to  the  Committee 
of  Safety,  published  in  the  Pennsylvania 
Archives,  Vol.  5,  page  46,  wherein,  inter  alia, 
he  said:  "  The  Commodore  was  with  me  this 
morning,  and  says  that  the  fleet  has  no  colors 
to  hoist  if  they  should  be  called  on  duty.  It 
is  not  in  my  power  to  get  them  until  there 
is  a  design  fixed  on  to  make  the  colors  by" 
Yet  this  letter  was  written  four  months  after 
the  time  fixed  in  the  alleged  Betsy  Ross 
claim.  Thus  it  is  shown  conclusively  by  the 
record  that  we  had  dropped  the  old  Grand 
Union  or  Continental  Flag,  to  wit:  the 
Crosses  and  the  Stripes,  but  had  not  yet,  Oc- 
tober, 1776,  adopted  a  new  design,  and  it  was 
not  until  June  14,  1777,  one  year  after  the 
time  fixed  as  to  the  Ross  claim,  that  a  new 
design  was  adopted,  and  a  resolution  was 

37 


passed  wherein  Congress  said  "  that  the  Flag 
of  the  Thirteen  United  States  be  thirteen 
stripes  alternate  red  and  white,  that  the 
union  be  thirteen  stars  white  on  a  blue  field, 
representing  a  new  constellation."  In  the 
rough  Journal  of  Congress  the  word  "  of  " 
occurs  before  the  words  "  thirteen  stripes ;" 
in  the  record  it  appears  to  have  been  changed, 
thus  corroborating  the  former  use  of  the 
thirteen  stripes. 

There  is  no  record  as  to  how  this  reso- 
lution got  before  Congress — whether  a  mem- 
ber introduced  it,  or  whether  it  was  the  out- 
come of  the  report  of  a  committee.  No  offi- 
cial proclamation  of  this  resolution  was  made 
until  September,  1777;  but  it  was  printed  in 
the  papers  previous  to  that  time  as  an  item  of 
news ;  so,  therefore,  from  June  to  September, 
1777,  private  enterprise  may  have  made 
many  of  them.  The  Ross  claim  is  ridiculous 
when  it  contends  that  Washington,  Col.  Ross 
and  Robert  Morris,  in  June,  1776,  one  month 
before  the  Declaration  of  Independence  had 
been  adopted,  called  on  Betsy  Ross,  and  that 
Washington  drew  with  a  pencil  a  rough 
drawing  of  the  present  American  flag,  she 
making  the  stars  five-pointed.  The  state- 
ment is  without  any  documentary  or  record 

38 


proof.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  six-pointed 
star  was  not  adopted  because  of  its  use  in 
English  heraldry,  while  in  Holland  and 
France,  our  allies,  five-pointed  stars  were 
used.  Now,  as  to  the  claim  that  "Old  Glory" 
was  thus  made  in  1776  by  Betsy  Ross,  what 
became  of  it?  Preble  says  of  Canby:  "I 
cannot  agree  with  his  claim,  and  neither 
does  the  record  support  it"  .  .  .  and  besides 
it  is  practically  charging  Washington  and 
the  rest  of  the  committee  with  seeking  to 
establish  and  set  up  a  national  ensign  before 
we  had  even  declared  ourselves  a  free  people 
with  an  independent  national  government, 
and  without  any  delegated  authority  to  do 
so,  the  record  of  Congress  being  silent  on 
the  subject;  so  therefore  we  have:  First. 
On  October  15,  1776,  the  letter  of  William 
Richards  to  the  Committee  of  Safety  already 
quoted  shows  that  the  Ross  claim  cannot 
be  true.  In  fact,  at  the  time  the  letter  was 
written  we  had  no  colors  nor  was  any  de- 
signed. Second.  That  at  the  time  it  is  al- 
leged the  committee  called  on  Mrs.  Ross  we 
had  no  national  existence.  We  were  still 
simply  revolting  colonies,  not  yet  having  de- 
clared our  independence.  Third.  As  a  cli- 
max I  have  found  in  the  Pennsylvania  Ar- 

39 


chives,  2d  series,  Vol.  I,  page  104,  the  follow- 
ing extract  from  the  Pennsylvania  (not  the 
Colonies)  Navy  Board's  minutes,  May  29, 
1777,  being  the  first  bill  for  colors  for  the 
fleet  on  record : 

"  Present :  William  Bradford,  Joseph 
Marsh,  Joseph  Blewer,  Paul  Cox. 

"An  order  on  William  Webb  to  Elizabeth 
Ross  for  fourteen  pounds,  twelve  shillings 
and  two  pence  for  making  ships'  colors,  etc., 
put  into  William  Richards'  store,  £14.12.2." 

Fourth.  Also  in  May,  1777,  the  State  of 
Massachusetts  knew  nothing  of  a  national 
ensign  of  the  Ross  description,  as  seen  by 
the  following  bill  paid  by  the  Board  of  War 
of  that  State  to  Joseph  Webb :  "  To  mending 
an  ensign  and  sewing  in  pine  tree,  6s" 

Also: 

"  May  ,  State  of  Mass.,  Pay  to 

Jos.  Webb,  Dr.  ,  1777.     To  mak- 

ing a  suit  of  colors,  44^.;  thread,  I2s.;  paint- 
ing Pine  trees,  etc.,  24^. — £4.0.0. 

"JOHN  CONSTON. 

"Armed  Brig  Freedom." 
40 


Fig.  9 


FLAG  CARRIED  IN  THE  REVOLUTION  BY  THE  FIRST  REGIMENT 
OF  THE  PENNSYLVANIA  LINE 


Fifth.  If  Washington  and  the  others  had 
agreed  on  a  design  in  June,  1776,  as  Mr. 
Canby  claims,  Washington  would  have  had 
it  officially  adopted,  because  he  above  all  men 
knew  the  necessity  of  a  national  emblem,  and 
more  especially  would  he  have  done  so  im- 
mediately after  the  adoption  of  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence  in  July  following,  and 
he  would  not  then  have  fought  at  Trenton 
and  Princeton  in  December,  1776,  under  the 
State  ensigns,  or  at  Long  Island  or  White 
Plains  under  the  flags  mentioned. 

Sixth.  The  first  official  record  of  the  Stars 
and  Stripes  being  carried  in  battle  was  at  the 
Brandy  wine  in  September,  1777,  although 
it  is  claimed  that  at  Oriskany,  fought  on  the 
22d  day  of  August,  1777,  when  Fort  Stanwix 
was  invested  by  the  British,  an  American 
flag  was  made  by  using  white  shirts,  a  red 
petticoat  and  Captain  Abraham  Swartout's 
blue  coat  (see  Lossing's  field  book  of  the 
American  Revolution,  Vol.  I,  page  242;  also 
Preble's  Origin  of  the  Flag,  page  276). 

Seventh.  In  view  of  the  above-recorded 
facts,  the  Betsy  Ross  story  fails  to  convince 
the  student  and  searcher  after  historical  facts 
as  to  its  authenticity.  It  is  "  the  imagination 
of  the  artist  "  told  in  story.  He  says :  "  I  fix 

41 


the  date  because  Washington  at  that  time 
was  in  Philadelphia;"  but  no  one  else  fixes 
the  date  of  the  Betsy  Ross  incident,  not 
even  the  relatives  from  whom  it  is  claimed 
the  story  was  obtained.  And  further  in  the 
same  statement  it  says :  "  Washington  came 
to  confer  upon  the  affairs  of  the  army,  the 
flag  being  no  doubt  one  of  these  affairs." 
Mere  guess-work.  And  if  a  true  guess,  then 
the  argument  already  used  by  Preble  as  to 
what  became  of  the  design  and  the  flag  from 
that  time,  June,  1776,  to  June,  1777,  holds 
good.  It  was  further  claimed  that  stars  and 
stripes  were  in  general  use  a  year  before  Con- 
gress adopted  them ;  but  it  fails  to  show  one 
instance  to  sustain  the  assertion;  besides, 
the  Richards  letter  of  October,  1776,  it  being 
official,  completely  upsets  the  claim.  Wash- 
ington Irving  in  his  life  of  Washington  says 
that  the  General,  accompanied  by  Mrs. 
Washington,  left  New  York  on  the  2ist  day 
of  May,  1776,  and  that  they  were  the  guests 
of  John  Hancock  while  in  Philadelphia;  but 
neither  Irving,  Sparks,  nor  any  other  writers 
of  Washington's  life  mention  anything  what- 
ever of  the  Ross  incident.  If  it  happened,  it 
surely  would  have  been  mentioned  by  some- 
one. Even  Washington  himself  fails  to  say 

42 


anything  about  it  in  any  of  the  letters  he  has 
written,  his  diaries,  or  statements  made,  nor 
are  there  any  allusions  to  the  subject  in  the 
published  correspondence  of  his  contempora- 
ries. So  therefore  the  Ross  claim  simply 
rests  on  the  statements  claimed  to  have  been 
obtained  from  relatives,  while  against  it  are 
the  various  facts  above  given  and  hundreds 
of  others  not  mentioned  in  this  article. 

Our  flag  is  the  representative  of  national 
unity,  equal  and  exact  justice  to  all  men.  It 
stands  for  no  sentimental  characteristic.  It 
is  a  practical  exhibition  in  itself  of  the  result 
of  concerted  action,  and  has  been  from  its 
origin  until  to-day  worshipped  as  no  other 
ensign  designed  by  man  has  ever  been.  It 
is  loved  and  respected  by  all  who  love  liberty. 
It  represents  the  government.  It  represents 
our  honor.  To  love  it  is  to  love  one's  coun- 
try, a  duty  more  sacred  than  any  other,  ex- 
cept love  and  respect  for  God. 

"  Oh,  glorious  flag!  red,  white  and  blue, 
Bright  emblem  of  the  pure  and  true! 
Oh,  glorious  group  of  clustering  stars, 
Ye  lines  of  light,  ye  crimson  bars." 

Our  flag  upon  the  ocean  has  been  the 

43 


theme  for  many  a  song  and  story,  and  in  the 
early  days  of  the  Republic  the  achievements 
of  our  naval  heroes  were  looked  upon  as 
more  essential  for  the  attainment  of  our  lib- 
erties than  victories  on  shore,  as  every  vessel 
captured  or  destroyed  meant  the  loss  of 
stores  and  munitions  of  war  to  the  British 
troops,  hence  early  in  the  struggle,  as  before 
stated,  private  enterprise  took  the  first  steps 
in  creating  a  navy,  then  the  colonies  took  it 
up  separately,  and  then,  as  stated,  the  Gen- 
eral Congress. 

The  Delaware  River  was  the  scene  of  more 
activity  in  that  direction  than  any  other  port 
of  the  Colonies,  a  reputation  which  it  still 
enjoys.  A  large  number  of  vessels  were 
fitted  out,  and  here  it  was  the  first  fleet  of 
American  war  vessels  gathered,  and  from 
the  Delaware  sailed  the  first  commissioned 
war  vessel  to  cruise  on  the  ocean,  the  Lex- 
ington, Commodore  John  Barry.  Of  course, 
there  had  been  many,  as  I  have  stated,  pri- 
vate and  colonial  vessels  that  had  been  at  sea 
since  the  Lee,  Captain  John  Manley  (ad 
supra),  in  the  autumn  of  1775,  sailed  from  a 
Massachusetts  port,  and  I  have  no  doubt  that 
many  of  these  private  and  colonial  vessels 
flew  the  Grand  Union  Flag  after  it  had  been 

44 


adopted.  So  therefore  it  is  fair  to  presume 
from  the  records  that  Lieutenant  Paul  Jones 
was  the  first  commissioned  officer  to  raise 
it  to  the  peak  of  a  commissioned  American 
wcr  vessel,  the  Alfred;  that  Captain  John 
Barry  was  the  first  to  take  it  to  sea  on  the 
Lexington,  and  that  the  first  to  exhibit  it  to 
other  countries  was  Captain  Wickes,  of  the 
brig  Reprisal,  who  arrived  at  St.  Eustatia  on 
July  27,  1776  (see  American  Archives,  5th 
series,  Vol.  I,  page  610).  The  flag  he  dis- 
played had  thirteen  stripes  and  a  union  of 
yellow  or  white;  but  whether  it  had  on  it 
crosses,  pine  trees  or  rattlesnakes  no  one  can 
tell,  as  no  record  can  be  found ;  but  it  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  a  yellow  union  with  a 
rattlesnake  on  it  (see  Fig.  10),  as  the  naval 
flag  had  been  a  yellow  flag  with  a  rattlesnake 
on  it,  with  thirteen  rattles  and  one  budding, 
and  the  motto  "  Don't  tread  on  me."  It  was 
also  claimed  to  have  been  displayed  in  the 
same  port  on  November  16,  1776,  and  to 
have  received  its  first  salute  from  a  foreign 
power.  In  looking  the  matter  up  it  was  dis- 
covered that  the  American  brig  Andrew 
Dorea  was  in  the  port  named  on  that  day, 
she  having  sailed  from  Philadelphia  in  Sep- 
tember, 1776.  On  her  arrival  she  saluted 

45 


the  fort,  and  the  Dutch  commander  returned 
it,  and  he  was  afterwards  dismissed  by  his 
government  for  doing  so.  So,  therefore,  it 
is  fair  to  infer  that  both  claims  are  made 
upon  a  foundation  of  facts  that  are  corrobo- 
rated by  the  records.  But  the  Reprisal's 
flag  must  have  been  the  Grand  Union  or  Con- 
tinental flag,  as  she  left  port  before  the 
adoption  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
while  the  Dorea  must  have  had  some  other 
design  for  a  flag,  as  she  did  not  sail  until 
September,  two  months  after  the  Declara- 
tion was  adopted.  Besides,  in  a  letter  from 
St.  Eustatia,  published  in  the  American  Ar- 
chives, Vol.  2,  5th  series,  page  760,  it  said: 
"All  American  vessels  here  now  wear  the 
Congress  colors."  As  the  crosses  of  St. 
Andrew  and  St.  George  had  been  dropped, 
the  Congress  colors  must  have  been  simply 
an  ensign  of  thirteen  red  and  white  stripes, 
with  an  emblem  of  a  rattlesnake  on  it  (see 
Fig.  n). 

The  second  salute  from  a  foreign  power 
to  our  flag  of  which  we  have  any  record  was 
given  at  Brest  by  the  French  commander  in 
August,  1777,  to  the  General  Mifflin,  Captain 
McNeill.  It  must  have  been  the  Congress 
flag,  as  the  news  of  the  passage  of  the  act  of 

46 


June  i4th  creating  the  Stars  and  Stripes 
could  not  have  beeen  known  by  those  on  the 
Mifflin,  as  in  those  days  we  had  no  merchant 
marine  or  other  means  except  through  armed 
vessels  of  communicating  with  other  coun- 
tries. 

The  galleys  on  the  Delaware  were  in 
charge  of  the  Pennsylvania  Committee  of 
Safety.  They  had  no  colors  to  hoist  in  Au- 
gust, 1776,  as  can  be  seen  by  the  following 
letter  of  Mr.  Richards,  dated  the  iQth  of  that 
month.  It  was  directed  to  the  committee, 
and  said: 

"  I  hope  you  have  agreed  what  sort  of  col- 
ors I  am  to  have  made  for  the  galleys,  as 
they  are  much  wanted." 

And  this  was  two  months  after  the  alleged 
date  of  the  Ross  claim.  The  following  let- 
ter will  give  a  description  of  the  sailing  of 
the  first  fleet  of  war  vessels  this  government 
ever  owned : 

"  NEWBERN,  N.  C,  Feb.  9,  1776. 
"  By  a  gentleman  from  Philadelphia,  we 
have  received  the  pleasing  account  of  the 
actual  sailing  from  that  place  of  the  first 

47 


American  fleet  that  ever  swelled  their  sails 
on  the  western  ocean  in  defense  of  the  rights^ 
and  liberties  of  the  people  of  these  Colonies, 
now  suffering  under  the  persecuting  rod  of 
the  British  ministry,  and  their  more  than 
brutish  tyrants  in  America.  This  fleet  con- 
sists of  five  sail,  fitted  out  from  Philadelphia, 
which  are  to  be  joined  at  the  capes  of  Vir- 
ginia by  two  ships  more  from  Maryland,  and 
is  commanded  by  Admiral  Hopkins,  a  most 
experienced  and  venerable  sea  captain.  The 
admiral's  ship  is  called  the  Columbus,  after 
Christopher  Columbus,  thirty-six  guns,  12 
and  Q-pounders,  on  two  decks,  forty  swivels 
and  five  hundred  men.  The  second  ship  is 
called  the  Cabot,  after  Sebastian  Cabot,  who 
completed  the  discoveries  of  America  made 
by  Columbus,  and  mounts  thirty-two  guns. 
The  others  are  smaller  vessels,  from  twenty- 
four  to  fourteen  guns.  They  sailed  from 
Philadelphia  amidst  the  acclamations  of 
many  thousands  assembled  on  the  joyful  oc- 
casion, under  the  display  of  a  Union  flag 
with  thirteen  stripes  in  a  field,  emblematical 
of  the  thirteen  united  colonies;  but,  unhap- 
pily for  us,  the  ice  in  the  river  Delaware  as 
yet  obstructs  the  passage  down ;  but  the  time 
will  now  soon  arrive  when  this  fleet  must 

48 


come  to  action.  Their  destination  is  a  secret, 
but  generally  supposed  to  be  against  the  min- 
isterial governors,  those  little  petty  tyrants 
that  have  lately  spread  fire  and  sword 
throughout  the  Southern  colonies.  For  the 
happy  success  of  this  little  fleet  three  mil- 
lions of  people  offer  their  most  earnest  sup- 
plications to  heaven."  See  American  Ar- 
chives, 4th  series,  Vol.  IV,  page  964;  also 
Cooper's  Naval  History  as  to  who  named 
the  vessels.  John  Adams  claimed  that 
honor.  See  American  Archives,  4th  series, 
Vol.  IV,  p.  964. 

The  fleet  made  a  descent  upon  New  Prov- 
idence, and,  after  capturing  the  place  and 
taking  away  a  large  quantity  of  munitions 
of  war  and  stores,  it  left  and  coasted  along 
the  coast  from  Cape  Cod  to  Cape  Charles, 
making  many  captures.  On  the  I7th  of 
April,  1776,  occurred  the  first  engagement 
between  an  English  war  vessel  and  a  com- 
missioned American  war  vessel.  The  Eng- 
lish vessel  was  the  brig  Edward,  mounting 
sixteen  four-pounders,  and,  by  a  strange  co- 
incidence, the  American  vessel  was  the  Lex- 
ington, Captain  Barry.  It  was  at  Lexing- 
ton on  land  in  April,  1775,  the  first  shot  was 

49 


fired  by  Americans,  and  it  was  from  the 
Lexington  at  sea  that  the  first  broadside 
was  delivered  at  the  "  Wooden  Walls  "  of 
old  England.  The  fight  resulted  in  the  cap- 
ture of  the  British  vessel. 

No  one  can  tell  in  the  absence  of  a  record 
the  name  of  the  vessel  to  first  fly  the  Stars 
and  Stripes.  Paul  Jones  claimed  it  for  the 
Alliance ;  but  in  Cooper's  life  of  Paul  Jones, 
page  31,  occurs  the  following.  Speaking 
of  Jones'  claim,  he  says : 

"  He  may  have  been  mistaken.  He  al- 
ways claimed  to  have  been  the  first  man  to 
hoist  the  flag  of  1775  (the  Grand  Union) 
in  a  national  ship,  and  the  first  man  to  show 
the  present  ensign  (the  Stars  and  Stripes) 
on  board  of  a  man-of-war.  This  may  be 
true  or  not.  There  was  a  weakness  about 
the  character  of  the  man  that  rendered  him 
a  little  liable  to  self-delusions  of  this  nature ; 
and  while  it  is  probable  he  was  right  as  to 
the  flag  which  was  shown  before  Philadel- 
phia on  the  Alfred  (the  Grand  Union)  the 
place  where  Congress  was  sitting,  it  is  by 
no  means  as  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the 
first  of  the  permanent  flags  (Stars  and 
Stripes)  was  shown  at  a  place  as  distant  as 
Portsmouth.  The  circumstances  are  of  no 

50 


moment,  except  as  they  serve  to  betray  a 
want  of  simplicity  of  character,  that  was 
rather  a  failing  with  the  man,  and  his  avid- 
ity for  personal  distinction  of  every  sort." 

To  corroborate  Cooper  I  have  only  to 
state  that  Jones'  claim  is  absurd  when,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  the  Alliance  was  not  launched 
until  1777,  and  Jones  did  not  command  her 
until  1779,  when,  as  a  matter  of  course,  she 
must  have  carried  the  Stars  and  Stripes 
(see  MacKensie's  Life  of  Jones,  Vol.  I, 
pages  252  and  253).  Much  to  our  regret, 
as  lovers  of  our  country,  we  must  admit  that 
the  first  American  flag  (the  Grand  Union) 
displayed  on  any  of  the  lakes  was  by  that 
arch  traitor,  Benedict  Arnold,  on  the  Royal 
Savage.  He  had  command  of  the  fleet  on 
Lake  Champlain  in  the  winter  of  1776 — 

A  man  who  died  without  a  flag,  without  a 
country,  without  love,  without  respect. 

The  first  British  man-of-war  to  enter  an 
American  port  after  the  Revolution  was  the 
Alligator,  Capt.  Isaac  Coffin.  He  entered 
the  harbor  of  Boston  on  the  2d  day  of  May, 
1791.  He  saluted  the  American  flag  on  the 
fort  by  firing  thirteen  guns,  which  was  re- 
si 


turned.  A  full  report  of  this  occurrence  is 
to  be  found  in  the  Columbian  Sentinel  of 
May  3d,  1791. 

The  first  ship  to  enter  a  British  port  after 
peace  had  been  declared  flying  the  American 
flag  was  the  ship  Bedford,  of  Nantucket, 
Capt.  William  Mooers.  She  entered  the 
Thames  in  February,  1783,  and  proceeded 
up  to  London.  She  was  loaded  with  whale 
oil.  The  first  publication  of  the  terms  of 
the  treaty  of  peace  was  on  the  28th  day  of 
January,  1783,  the  treaty  itself  having  been 
made  in  November,  1782. 

The  first  time  the  American  flag  was  ever 
displayed  over  conquered  territory  outside 
of  the  United  States  was  on  the  27th  day  of 
April,  1805,  during  the  war  between  this 
country  and  Tripoli,  when,  after  the  capture 
of  the  Tripolitan  fortress  at  Derne,  it  was 
hoisted  by  Lieutenant  Bannon  and  a  Mr. 
Mann.  This  flag  has  fifteen  stripes  and  fif- 
teen stars,  and  was  exhibited  at  a  celebra- 
tion on  the  4th  of  July,  1820,  at  Brumfield, 
Massachusetts. 

For  ten  years  prior  to  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  men,  in  defiance  of  the  Gov- 
ernment, protesting  against  the  oppressive 
Stamp  Duty  Act  and  other  causes,  held  pub- 

52 


lie  demonstrations,  at  which  a  liberty  pole 
would  be  raised,  and  flags  with  devices  and 
sentences  upon  them  would  be  carried.  As- 
sociations calling  themselves  "  Sons  of  Lib- 
erty "  were  formed,  and  so  tense  became  the 
feeling  that  the  people  looked  with  contempt 
both  upon  king  and  Parliament.  So  pro- 
nounced did  it  become  that  the  obnoxious 
act  was  repealed  in  1766,  after  having  been 
in  operation  only  four  months.  But  these 
associations  of  "  Liberty  Boys,"  formed  in 
1765  in  every  community  from  Boston  to 
Charleston,  continued  in  existence,  and 
formed  the  nucleus  of  the  army  of  the  Rev- 
olution, and  the  very  devices  and  sentences 
used  in  1776  were  afterwards  adopted  and 
put  upon  their  flags  in  1775  and  1776  prior 
to  the  adoption  of  the  Grand  Union  Flag  and 
the  present  Ensign. 

I  have  in  the  foregoing  pages  endeavored 
to  collate  truly  all  the  documentary  and  other 
tangible  evidence  that  is  in  existence  to  fully, 
absolutely,  and  without  fear  of  contradiction, 
sustain  the  contention  that  the  Betsy  Ross 
claim  exists  only  because  of  a  statement 
made  by  a  relative  who  did  not  produce  one 
scintilla  of  documentary  or  recorded  evi- 
dence to  sustain  the  claim.  The  records  of 

53 


the  time  refute  it,  and  the  dates  are  so  at 
variance  with  facts  that  are  known  that  it  is 
a  surprise  that  any  credence  whatever  has 
been  given  to  the  story. 

This  is  God's  land,  overflowing  with 
promises  to  the  oppressed  of  all  nations. 
Our  shields  have  been  dented  in  honorable 
warfare  to  establish  individual  liberty  and 
religious  freedom,  and  in  all  the  coming 
years  may  our  Government  reign  supreme 
over  all  this  fair  land,  and  everywhere  from 
ocean  to  ocean  may  our  flag,  like  the  Bow 
of  Promise,  be  a  sign  to  all  the  people  of  the 
earth  that,  being  heaven-born,  it  is  a  cove- 
nant that  liberty  will  and  shall  be  maintained 
as  long  as  love  of  country  exists  in  the  breast 
of  man. 


54 


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